Sports med recap: Copa America Centenario in Philadelphia

What a great way to end the Copa America matches in Philadelphia… Two great goals for Alexis Sanchez to cap off a 4-2 win for Chile against Panama on June 14.  In the first two matches there was the June 9 upset win by Venezuela over Uruguay that had Luis Saurez throwing his cleats onto the pitch and the US hanging on a man down to finish first in their group with a win over Paraguay on June 11.

Things went smoothly from a medical standpoint at all three matches at Lincoln Financial Field.  Other than a few stretcher trips onto the pitch, there were no significant game day medical issues.  While the medical staff was lucky enough to sit back and enjoy the matches on game days, it was an all-around busy week for staff while the teams were in town.  We were hard at work coordinating MRIs, setting up physician visits, and facilitating other medical issues for the visiting teams over the last week and a half.  Venue Medical Directors Arthur Bartolozzi, M.D. and Todd McGrath, M.D. and I would like to thank all of our medical staff as well as all of the countless other staff and volunteers that made Copa America Centenario such a success in our city.

Now that all the teams have left Philadelphia, either for their knock out stage matches or back to their home country, our local medical staff can relax and just be fans for the remainder of the tournament. I know I'm looking forward to the US Ecuador match on Thursday night with a spot in the semifinals on the line.  Let's go USA!

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